Big Star Voice Actors--pro or con?

Post by **ShyViolet** » December 27th, 2006, 4:41 am

I know we've discussed this on other threads but it comes up a lot so I thought it might be interesting to have a thread on it. I agree that some of them dont' do such a great job (Catherine Zeta Jones, Ray Romano, Brad Pitt, De Niro, others.) But some are better than others. What's your take?

Rate the VO effectiveness of different Big Star actors from 1-10:

Mike Meyers
Eddie Murphy
Kevin Spacey
Gene Hackman
Sharon Stone
Val Kilmer
Patrick Stewart (Prince of Egypt, The Smpsons and Chicken Little)
Michelle Pfeiffer (Sinbad, The Simpsons and Prince of Egypt)
John Leguizamo (Titan AE and Ice Age)
Kate Winslet
Hugh Jackman
Paul Giamatti
Ewan Macregor
Robin Williams
Halle Berry
Mel Brooks
Avril Lavigne
Martin Scorcase
Jack Black
William Shatner (Osmosis Jones, OTH, lots of stuff)
Holly Hunter
Craig T Nelson
Samuel L Jackson
John Goodman
David Spade
Julia Louise-Dryfus
Ellen Degeneres
Owen Wilson
Demi Moore (Hunchback)
James Woods
Michael J. Fox
Daveigh Chase (Lilo)
Eugene Levy (he was in Chicken Little and Over the Hedge)

Post by **Ben** » December 27th, 2006, 7:22 am

That's quite a list!

And yet your forgot John Goodman!

Post by **ShyViolet** » December 27th, 2006, 7:52 am

Holly Hunter
Craig T Nelson
Samuel L Jackson
John Goodman
David Spade
Julia Louise-Dryfus
Ellen Degeneres
Owen Wilson
Demi Moore (Hunchback)
James Woods
Michael J. Fox
Daveigh Chase (Lilo)
Eugene Levy (he was in Chicken Little and Over the Hedge)

Nah, he's right there!

Post by **Uli** » December 27th, 2006, 8:21 am

Post by **ShyViolet** » December 27th, 2006, 10:02 am

Yeah, I knew everyone would give him a 10 (same thing Tim Allen)

I tried to pick actors that weren't so "obvious" and would inspire discussion.

Post by **Dacey** » December 27th, 2006, 2:41 pm

I agree that some of them dont' do such a great job (Catherine Zeta Jones, Ray Romano, Brad Pitt, De Niro, others.)

(Disagrees strongly about all of them, especially Zeta Jones and De Niro, who both have GREAT voices. And heck, Ray Romano WAS Manny. I can't think of anyone else voicing him)

Hmmm. Maybe it's best if I don't say anything.

Post by **ShyViolet** » December 27th, 2006, 3:54 pm

Nah, don't be shy!

I just thought all three of those actors had good qualities to their performances (hey, two were from DW movies

) but that perhaps different actors might have made more of an impression.

Post by **ShyViolet** » December 27th, 2006, 4:02 pm

Also, here's a short interview with Katzenberg and Tim Johnson about DreamWorks films, specifically the issue of "big-name" voice actors and how they're chosen.

Post by **Ben** » December 27th, 2006, 8:15 pm

ShyViolet wrote:I tried to pick actors that weren't so "obvious" and would inspire discussion.

And yet you picked John Goodman...

Post by **Brandon Neeld** » December 28th, 2006, 1:13 am

I think alot of these have been top quality for their roles, particularly SLJ, Holly Hunter, DeNiro, Meyers, Goodman, Romano, Shatner, and Spacey just to name some particular faves for their parts. A number of roles are actually designed for specific people (like Shatner or DeNiro) and thus they fill it perfectly as that stereotype is what's trying to be achieved - note however these are typically secondary characters as too much would certainly get on the nerves after a while. In fact IMHO big voice actors suit the role fine until you start getting into massive amounts of stereotyping as a focus character for extended periods of tim (esp if its a particularly loud, obnoxious, or abrasive voice). This is why I don't particularly care for Eddie Murphy as Donkey and its also a turn off in terms of Billy Crystal as Mike. They often tend to overplay Robin Williams as was the case in Robots and he even got a tiny bit on my nerves towards the end of Happy Feet. Of course every rule has a loophole like how perfect Robin was as the genie in Aladin even with his over the top personality which suited the larger than life character.

So in short, I believe their is a place for big name actors in the voice of animation but you can have too much and as always the person has to fit the part rather than just being there for the name. Just my 2 cents. =)

Post by **Ben** » December 28th, 2006, 5:38 am

But, as you say, the Genie was, in effect, a support character, which is why he worked.

Post by **ShyViolet** » December 28th, 2006, 9:02 am

About Robin Williams: with the exception of Aladdin, I find him grating as a voice actor. He plays the exact same characters in Robots and Happy Feet.

The reason Genie was so great was just because of his likability as a character thanks to Terry Rossio and Ted Williams' script and Ron and Jon's directing. Williams was able to bring a lot of different dimensions to Genie as a warm, compassionate character who cares about Aladdin but also wants to be free.

And like Ben said, he wasn't the main character.

******************************************************

Well, I chose Goodman because although many like him some think he's just another "Big Name" actor who doesn't deserve it while others think he's too obscure. At least from what I've observed. Plus now he's practically a VO (sort of) while he used to be considered a celebrity; quite rare.

BTW, what did you guys think of the above interview? Be honest, I want to know.

I thought they made some good points but there was some BS'ing going on too.

Post by **Meg** » December 28th, 2006, 3:26 pm

Adam West should be on there...

Post by **Ben** » December 29th, 2006, 7:56 am

I'll tell you when you neeeeed to know...

Post by **ShyViolet** » December 29th, 2006, 2:57 pm

Aw, c'mon. Pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaase?

Adam West should be on there...

He was good on The Simpsons but on Family Guy it's the same joke again and again. (Not his fault though.) But he was funny in his "cameo" in Chicken Little!

I made an error: It wasn't Eugene Levy in CL, but Gary Marshell.

Also, you can't forget Don Knotts: Mr. Limpet and Turkey Lurky!

And who can forget: Daveigh Chase was Lilo AND Jahiro in the
American dubbed Spirited Away!

BTW who did Runt? Was it someone famous?